The Stranded Champion
by jean010
Summary: What is there for the Champion of Kanto to do after landing in a world similar but yet so different from his, with a body that isn't his own, a messed up memory, no apparent way to go back and with only one Pokemon that doesn't even belong to him? The answer is simple actually: To become the very best like no one ever was...again. RedX?
1. Chapter 1

"Red" Normal Speech

'Green' People's thoughts

 **"Charizard"** Other being's speech

' **Mewtwo'** Other being's thoughts

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. It belongs to The Pokemon Company, Nintendo, Game Freak and Satoshi Tajiri**

 **AN: This chapter had yet to be beta-read**

 **Warning: This fanfic contains spoilers of the** _ **Pokemon Adventure**_ **manga. You can easily read this fic without having read the manga though, and this is just for those that want to avoid spoilers from it**

 **Prologue**

 **A Stranded Champion**

 _Kanto, Pallet Town_

With a sudden jolt he woke up, cold sweat going down his brow. His right hand quickly met his face in an attempt at calming down, his heavy breathing causing his chest to rise and fall as quick as it could.

His mind was a mess, confusion showing on his eyes as he inspected where he was. He was sitting in a bed, in a room that he didn't recognize at all. A pale blue color plastered the walls, with a TV and a full body mirror being on the side of the medium-size room. He could also see a lot of Pokemon related stuff that honestly didn't surprise him as much.

Then came a headache so strong that he raised both hands to his head in a vain attempt at stopping it. His mind became even more of a mess, to the point that he couldn't even remember the simpler stuff.

He couldn't even remember his freacking name. How did one forget about that?! A little moment of calm appeared for him, a word suddenly resounding so much on his mind that he couldn't stop it from escaping his lips.

"Red…" That's right that was his name. He remembered it now. He had no idea of anything else or where he was, but that was a start, right? Positive thinking Red, positive thinking.

He tried to leave the bed, his legs wobbling a little bit as soon as hit feet met the cold floor. He managed to stand up slowly, and just as slowly he walked away from the bed, his breathing still hard as his eyes roamed the room he was in, trying to make a sense of what was happening.

Then another headache struck him, strong enough to actually send him to the floor on his knees. A bunch of memories suddenly appeared on his head. He easily remember some of them, but there were others that he just _knew_ were wrong, like they didn't belong to him at all.

His eyes finally landed on the big full-body mirror, and what he saw made his eyes go as wide as they could. He knew how he looked like of course, even with his normal attire missing, but the person that greeted him on the mirror was _definitely_ not him!

Instead of the black hair and red eyes that he was supposed to have he was greeted with brown eyes and a slightly less dark hair. However that wasn't the biggest shock, no. The greatest one was when, instead of seeing his nineteen year old self, he only saw what he guessed was a thirteen year old teenager with slightly tanned skin and some rare marks on his cheeks.

Red simply sat there, watching the reflection of the mirror with a dazzled look, not knowing what to think or believe. His head was a mess but the pain had lessened a lot, although that didn't fix his utter shock at all.

He wasn't one to curse at all, however when his lips finally moved only one sentence escaped them, one that basically summed up how he felt right now.

"Crap basket"

And then he did the only sensitive to do in this situation and fainted right there on the post, completely missing the object under his bed that, just like him, didn't belong to this world either.

 **RGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGB**

 _Next day_

Red was a mess. He had never felt so utterly lost in his life, not even when Deoxys had practically demolished his Pokemon team by itself had he felt so lost, even though that had been one of the lowest moments on his life.

He shook his head. Now was not the time for depressing thoughts like that. He needed to get the hell out of here as soon as he could, which was the reason he was practically running to the outskirt of what apparently was Pallet Town. It certainly looked like the Pallet Town he remembered, but at the same time it was so different that he couldn't help but to look at everything with suspicious eyes.

Ash Ketchum. Oh how he had come to hate that name. He had only heard it yesterday and yet it was probably one of the things he hated the most right now. At everywhere he went people called him like that, as if that was his name! No! His name was Red damn it, plain and simple!

But no. The few people he had talked to yesterday had acted as if he was this Ash Ketchum kid. The fact that he looked completely different from how he was supposed to look probably didn't help either.

Honestly yesterday he almost had a nervous breakdown. He felt a little bit better now though, since he managed to calm his head yesterday as soon as he got some time alone, which wasn't as easy as it sound with his _mom_ thinking he was sick and hovering over him as if he was going to break at any second.

Oh yes, he had a _mother_ now. Well more like Ash Ketchum has one, and he just happened to now be in that boy's body. Not the best hypothesis but damn that was the only _logical_ thing that he managed to come about.

Yesterday has still been a bad day though. From his head hurting so much to everything that was happening yesterday had really sucked. There had been a few good moments though, one of them being meeting a rather familiar face.

Professor Oak had decided to visit him and his mo-Delia yesterday. The young Champion practically jumped out of joy as soon as he saw the old professor, but that happiness had quickly turned into sorrow as soon as it became obvious that this wasn't _his_ Professor Oak.

The fact that the man had never heard of anyone named Red pretty much told him that.

However the second high point of his day truly promised to be great. It actually was one of the reasons of his sudden journey to the outside of Pallet Town. He couldn't let _anyone_ see this or else he would have to answer far too many questions, which will probably make people think he was a nut job.

Hey! I'm a nineteen year old trapped in the body of a thirteen year old boy! I belong to another world in which I'm the Champion of Kanto! Pretty sweet right?!

Maybe he _was_ a nutjob.

'Positive thinking Red, positive thinking' the trainer thought as if it was a mantra. He had been doing that a lot lately, but for an obvious good reason.

He finally reached a secluded enough area, to the side of the main road that, if this place was really like he remembered, connected Pallet Town with Viridian City. Surrounded by some trees this was the perfect place but what he had planned.

He knew he didn't have much time before Delia came looking for him, so the young boy took a small spherical object from the pockets on his pants. Almost everyone in the world would easily recognize this item was a Pokeball, however this Pokeball was definitely differencing from the ones in this world because of a simple fact.

Red could clearly see the Pokemon inside of the ball. A miniature size of the Pokemon sure, but he could clearly see it, which allowed to see how said Pokemon was looking straight back at him with such a pair of sharp eyes that Red wasn't able to stop picturing the Pokemon's original trainer also looking t him with the same kind of eyes.

That thought alone made him smile a little bit. Oh how he wished for Blue to be here. He probably would know what to do right now.

"Get out Charizard!" Red said, opening the Pokeball, allowing said Pokemon to fully appear in front of him.

The mighty Fire/Flying Pokemon roared to the sky as soon as he appeared, his wings expanding as much as they could, and his flame-covered tail moving slowly behind him. The Pokemon's eyes were quick to find Red's in a look that the trainer could admit would scare him if he didn't trust this Pokemon already.

The black-haired teen gulped, admiring just how powerful Charizard looked. He was definitely the tallest Charizard he had ever met, an obvious result of his Trainer's regular hard training, something that he himself was never able to match. He guessed that's why he held the title of _Fighter_ while Blue owned the one of _Trainer_ , at least according to his Professor Oak.

"You… you know who I am, right?" Red asked with both trepidation and hope. As far as he knew Charizard was his only link to his world right now, but if the Pokemon didn't know who he was then his hope would crumble once again.

Charizard looked down at the trainer for a few seconds, which just made Red even more nervous than before. However that nervousness banished as soon as the Kanto starter nodded at him, making the young trainer have his first real smile ever since he got here.

Then he gave Charizard a bear hug, catching the Fire/Flying Pokemon unprepared. Not knowing what else to do since he had never dealt with such a blatant show of emotion the Pokemon just patted the boy in the back, waiting for him to break the hug.

But when the hug continued for a whole minute the Charizard simply growled in warning, making the black-haired teen to release him with a sheepish smile while scratching the back of his head, remembering how Blue's Pokemon weren't ones to do this kind of thing, even though this Charizard had become a lot more friendlier towards him after years of knowing him.

"Alright then this means that I'm not crazy and that I didn't dream all of, well, my life" Red said, a weight finally leaving his shoulders. He hadn't actually believed that, but the doubt had starter forming on his head after seeing Professor Oak yesterday.

"Then that means we were really sent to another…whatever this place is?" the young Champion questioned himself, deciding that was probably the best conclusion that there was. Honestly it didn't sound that weird when you remembered that there were Pokemon out there that could bend time, space and reality itself.

Heck he had one witnessed Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres fusing into one Pokemon. He dealt with crazy stuff on daily basis

"You remember what we were doing before getting here?" this time Red asked Charizard, to which the Pokemon simply shook his head, his eyes still glued to Red's form. The Pokemon honestly hoped that the boy was able to figure something out soon, since he really wanted to go back to his trainer.

For his part Red couldn't help but to close his eyes at this. Yesterday he hadn't been able to remember much, but today his mind had been a lot kinder to him. Not only he didn't felt like his head was being bitted by a Sharpedo, but now he remembered everything clearly.

Well, mostly everything.

The last he remembered was being tasked by Professor Oak, alongside Blue, to go to the Kalos region to learn more about something called Mega Evolution, but after that? Nothing. His mind went completely blank. It frustrated him a lot, but he could only wonder what had happened in Kalos.

He knew the answer as to how they got here was in those memories, and just maybe a way to go back.

That was the main focus for Red now, to find a way to go back to his world. If something sent him here alongside Charizard then something must be able to send him back, right? At least that was the logic he was using, and he hoped so much for it to be right.

But what should he do now? He needed a way back, that much was obvious, but how will he find that? Going to Kalos looked like his best choice, since that has the last place he remembered, and he was sure that with Charizard he could get there in no time.

But it wasn't that easy. He wasn't the same kid that did things without thinking. Sure he might still charge recklessly sometimes, something that his friends like to point out a lot, but he was more mature now, and he knew that he couldn't just go to Kalos in search for answers.

He wasn't even in his body. In this world he wasn't Red, but Ash Ketchum. He wasn't even a trainer here! He didn't have his Pokemon either, something that worried him a lot too. Why was Blue's Charizard here with him instead of his own Pokemon? He just hoped they were alright wherever they were.

The black-haired youth ended up releasing a frustrated sigh. He would have to play it cool for now, which basically meant going back and act as Ash Ketchum as much as he could. He would have to hide Charizard too. He wasn't a really good liar but he would try, even though he felt really bad for Ash's mom

The woman was really kind. He had been able to figure that one out in just a day, and acting like her son just felt _wrong_ to him. Like he was taking advantage of her, but he didn't have a choice now did he? Besides the fastest he got out of here the fastest she would get her son back.

Red looked at Charizard with a determinate stare. The Fire/Flying type Pokemon didn't need words and just nodded, trusting the former Champion easily. His trainer had trusted the boy with his life, so he would do the same, and he knew that if someone could get them back that person was Red.

Red returned Charizard to his Pokeball and put it on his pocket, deciding to go back already before someone went looking for him. He would play it slowly now, get some information and make a plan. Not his favorite tactic outside of pokemon fights but he will adapt if he had to.

What was the worst that could happen anyway?

 **RGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGB**

 _1 month later_

Red hated himself.

He felt like scum. He _was_ scum, he was sure of that. He was the worst, lowest dirt that existed. He was sure that Giovanni was a better person than himself at this point.

After all only the absolute worst could take advantage of someone like Delia Ketchum

The woman was a saint! A scary one yes, but a saint none the less! Ash Ketchum had been a lucky kid for having a mother like that, and here he was, pretending to be her son.

Yep. Scum. Thrash He was sure hell was already waiting for him.

Well at least there was someone he hated more than himself, and Charizard shared that sentiment with him completely.

Gary _motherfucking_ Oak.

When he had first see the boy he couldn't help but to think of his rival/best friend, Blue. The boy was practically a clone of him! The only physical difference had been the clothes, so he had tried to talk with him as soon as he could.

Who knows? Maybe Blue was stuck here too and he was now in the body of Gary like he was in Ash's.

That idea was shot down as soon as Gary opened his mouth.

Boy was he a pain in the ass. He didn't thought he had ever met a more arrogant person in his life. While Blue was calm and confident to the point of being cold Gary was arrogant and obnoxious. The fact that he called him Ashy-boy all the time didn't help either.

Heck he could feel the anger coming from Charizard's Pokeball. The Kanto Pokemon probably felt that Gary's very own existence was an insult to his trainer, and Red guessed that the only reason Charizard didn't get out of the ball to attack Gary himself was because of how disciplined the Pokemon was.

Gary wasn't the only clone he had met though. Besides him and Professor Oak he had also met a girl that could easily be Green's twin sister. Even her clothes were the exact same! She looked just how Green looked during the Deoxys incident.

The again just like with Gary and Blue her personality was completely different from her look-alike.

Where Green was devious, confident and cunning, this girl, whose name was Leaf, was short-tempered, cold and a little bit aggressive. She honestly reminded him of Misty in personality a little bit.

Apparently those two were his childhood friend, and if that was true then he pitied Ash a little bit. Having this two as childhood friend must not have been easy, with Gary openly belittling him at any chance he had with the help of his enormous ego, and Leaf snapping at him if he even looked at her for more than five seconds. Yep, not easy at all.

Honestly his favorite moments were when they started fighting each other. Leaf is not above physical abuse, something that Gary was apparently really familiar. It was funny though, seeing Gary down after Leaf simply kicked him under the belt.

After meeting those two he had wondered if this world was filled with clones of people that he knew. It certainly looked like that, considering that even Pallet Town looked the same.

He didn't meet any one else though, but that hadn't been the focus in his mind. No, he had been thinking of what to do next. He had been able to form plenty of ideas but none of them convinced him. From simply leaving with Charizard, which he scrapped quickly, to reveal everything to Delia and Professor Oak, but he thought they wouldn't believe him so he scrapped that too.

In the end the answer came from Delia herself.

She owed that woman way too much already.

Apparently he, alongside Gary and Leaf, were already at the age in which they could start their Pokemon journey and become real Pokemon trainers by accepting one of three Pokemon from Professor Oak: Charmander, Bulbasaur or Squirtle. He had been confused at this at the beginning, since back in his world there weren't rules like those. His first Pokemon had been Poli, a Poliwag he had caught by himself when he was ten.

Heck he had only gotten his own Bulbasaur, which he had then called Saur, by accident after helping his own Professor Oak.

But that just proved that while this world looked the same as his it was definitely different. He had also watched some Pokemon fights in TV and they were different too. Here the battles looked a lot less extreme. Back in his world it wasn't that rare for Pokemon to truly get injured, or even _die_ during fights. The trainer was also in danger in those fights, unlike here.

He still remembered how Deoxys had pierced his Aerodactyl's wings, harming them to the point in which he couldn't fly, and how he himself had ended up being frozen completely by Lorelei after his first fight against Bruno, both members of the Elite 4 of his Kanto.

But he would adapt. He had no other choice anyway, and this journey might be what he needed. He would be able to travel around freely, and while he would only be able to travel through Kanto it was a start. His objective was Kalos after all, but there was something he needed first.

Pokemon. He needed a team! Right now he only had Charizard and even then he wasn't considered his Pokemon in this world. He didn't know what brought him to this world but it was probably something powerful, after all what kind of thing could send people through dimensions?

With his luck it was probably a legendary Pokemon.

So this journey would help him get the Pokemon he need, and after they were strong enough he would go to Kalos, look for clues and go back to his world.

Easy right?

At least it wouldn't be hard to catch as much Pokemon as he felt like it. This Kanto, while apparently looking the same as the one from his world, also had one striking difference.

It had _way_ more Pokemon.

During his journey he had only found Kanto Pokemon since, well, he lived in Kanto, but here apparently you could find Pokemon from all the other regions!

He didn't understand how that was possible, but he wasn't going to complain. If there was something he enjoyed was catching and training Pokemon.

Of course he always had specific Pokemon that he took with himself everywhere, but he also liked to try catching and training different Pokemon.

He only had to wait one more week. Then Professor Oak would allow him and his two _friends_ to go out in their journey. One more week of doing nothing. He couldn't even let Charizard roam free much for fear of someone finding him.

So with that thought in mind Red closed his eyes. He had been resting in _his_ room, the moon already up in the sky. If he kept thinking about so much stuff he wouldn't be able to sleep. He had a plan already so he just had to follow it.

So with that the former Champion of Kanto felt asleep, dreams of being back to his world consuming him slowly.

He would go back.

That was a promise.

 **RGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGB**

 **This idea just wouldn't leave my head, so I had to write it. This chapter isn't much, just a bunch of setup for the future, but I feel like I have to explain some things first**

 **The Red in this fanfic is** _ **not**_ **the Red from Red/Blue/FR/LG games or the Origins Special. No, this Red is the one from the Pokemon Adventures manga, which has to be my favorite Pokemon related thing besides the main games**

 **You don't need to read the manga to follow this fanfic. Yes I will sometimes write about something that happened in the manga but still, you don't need to know what happened in the manga to follow what will happen in this story**

 **I will point out a few things for those that have not read the manga just though:**

 **1) The Charizard that Red has in this fic is not his own. In the manga he doesn't have a Charizard, he has a Venusaur, while his rival (Blue) has Charizard, and Green has a Blastoise**

 **2) Whenever I refer to Blue I'm talking about Red's rival (boy), while Green is the third trainer with Squirtle (girl). I know that originally the roles are reversed, with Blue being the girl and Green the boy, but in this fic I will go with the American names to make it easier for the reader, so unless plenty of you readers ask me to change it Blue will be the boy and Green the girl**

 **3) Pokemon in this fanfic will have a maximum of 6 attacks. I feel like that should give me enough freedom to make good fights**

 **This is basically me trying to fuse together the anime, the games and the manga and see if the result is good enough. Let's hope the result ends up being good**


	2. A Fiery Start

"Red" Normal Speech

'Green' People's thoughts

 **"Charizard"** Other being's speech

' **Mewtwo'** Other being's thoughts

 **[Pokedex]** Pokedex entries

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. It belongs to The Pokemon Company, Nintendo, Game Freak and Satoshi Tajiri**

 **AN: This chapter had yet to be beta-read**

 **Warning: This fanfic contains spoilers of the** _ **Pokemon Adventure (Up to the Emerald saga)**_ **manga. You can easily read this fic without having read the manga though, and this is just for those that want to avoid spoilers from it**

 **Chapter 1**

 **A Fiery Start**

 _Kanto, Pallet Town, one week later_

For the last time that day Red looked around at the room that had become his own this past couple of months. It was weird to be honest, since he was never one to stay at one place for too much time, but still he had grown a little bit fond of this room, even if it wasn't really his own.

It was just another thing he was borrowing from Ash Ketchum.

He shook his head and slapped both his cheeks with his hands. Having those thoughts again wouldn't help him at all, he already felt guilty enough as it is. He just had to follow his plan and set everything right.

That would be the best for everyone.

The former champion gave a look to his reflection in the mirror that was in the room. While before he couldn't help but to flinch every time he looked at a mirror he was now getting more used to it. Of course he still didn't like seeing another person's body instead of his but he guessed it could be worse.

Red looked at himself in the mirror, inspecting the clothes he had decided to use to travel. It was nothing special, just a red jacket with white accents over a black shirt, dark blue pants, black shoes, a pair of black fingerless gloves and finally a white and red hat with a small logo on the front. He used it backwards though.

At least this Ash kid had some good taste in clothes. He never understood how Blue could walk around with that big cape/robe thing of his.

He also had a dark blue backpack on his back, filled to the brim with stuff he might need on his journey. Delia had made sure to get everything that a trained could need, from potions and antidotes to even food, but apparently it was Professor Oak the one that would give him the Pokeballs. It was just another thing to add to the list of things he owed to this woman.

Now he just had to get one more thing and he was good to go. Red kneeled down in front of his bed, and with his right hand he grabbed a Pokeball from under it. He hated putting Charizard's Pokeball there, but there weren't many other places to hide it. Charizard didn't like it either, that much was obvious to Red, but the Fire/Flying type understood the situation enough to not complain.

He looked at the Pokeball and just like always he was greeted with the sharp eyes of the Kanto starter looking right back at him. The young trainer just nodded to the Pokemon, making a promise on his head that he would get him out as soon as possible so that the Pokémon could at least stretch his wings.

"Honey you better hurry up or you're going to be late!" Delia's voice took Red's focus out of the Pokeball, and so with a last look as the room the leader of the Dex Holders moved out, nothing but determination burning on his eyes.

 **RGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGB**

Delia Ketchum loved her son. There was no doubt about that, and anyone that knew the woman, even if they only met her for five minutes could tell you that much easily.

Ash had always been her pride and joy. The energetic kid was the brightest part of her life. She was truly proud of him, so it wasn't so surprising that, even though he was still here, she already missed him.

Of course she knew that this day would come. For as long as she could remember Ash had always wanted to be a Pokemon trainer. He loved Pokemon, so it wasn't a surprise to see him leave in his own journey.

But it still hurt though. He might no longer be a little kid but he would always be her baby boy on her heart. She was afraid of something happening to him, of him getting hurt, both physically and mentally, after all she knew how sensitive he could actually be, and just the thought of what could happen if he didn't manage to accomplish his dream of becoming a Pokemon Master broke her heart.

She shook her head at that. No, her son was special, and she knew that if someone could accomplish that it was definitely him.

She was taken out of her thoughts by the sound of her son walking down the stairs, and then it only took a few seconds for him to reach the living room. Her eyes met his and she couldn't help but to smile. He had truly grown up to be a fine young man.

However she then frowned as soon as he looked to the side, and she could easily feel that he was tense. She wanted to pass it out as just nervousness but she wasn't blind. She didn't know why but her son had been acting weird this past couple of months. He had been acting distant, sometimes even a little bit cold. He didn't act as happy as he normally did, and she sometimes found him looking at an empty space with eyes showing so much sadness that it almost made her cry.

She knew that sometimes she could be a little bit overbearing, so she had tried to cheer him up as much as she could without directly asking what was keeping him so down, wanting for him to reach out for her, but that never happened. He looked better than before, but she could still tell that something was bothering him.

"Honey come here for a second, you have something on your face" she suddenly called to him, prompting for him to look at her in confusion before moving a hand to his face "No it's not there, come here or do you want to start your journey like that?" she continued with a giggle, prompting the boy to raise an eyebrow at her before walking towards her.

Then as soon as he got close she took him by surprise by wrapping her arms around him quickly, bringing him as close as possible is a hug. She felt him tense up almost immediately, but he didn't break up the hug nor did he return it, but she wasn't going to release him until he heard what she had to say.

"I know you must be excited about this" she started speaking, affection escaping from her words "But don't forget that this will always be your home, and that I love you. You make me so proud, you will always be my little boy; even after you become a Pokémon Master, so when you get to the top please don't forget about your mom, alright honey?"

For a moment neither of them spoke in the embrace, with Delia having to blink away some tears, however after a few seconds the younger of the two finally spoke.

"I won't… and thank you" he whispered, knowing that there was something else he _had_ to say, something that the kind woman that was hugging him wanted and deserved to hear… but he couldn't bring himself to say it.

Green was right, he was terrible at lying.

"We better go if we want to get there early then" Delia said while breaking the hug and giving her son a smile, one that he returned with a small one of his own.

And with that both left the house, their destination being Professors Oak's lab.

 **RGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGB**

 _Professor's Lab_

Breathing in and out, that was the only thing Red could so in order so calm himself. His mind was a mess right now thanks to his little conversation with Delia, but he knew that this wasn't the time for that.

He could let his guilt to eat him later.

Right now him, Gary and Leaf were waiting for Professor Oak to get here, which was weird since they were already inside his lab. The place was really big, and it was even filled with computers, machines and plenty of other things that Red didn't recognize at all.

Only the three of them have been allowed to enter, with Delia, Leaf's parents and Gary's sister and _cheerleaders_ being forced to wait outside. Well at least Daisy, Gary's sister, actually acted just like he remembered from his world.

Red looked to his left, or to be more specific towards Gary. The auburn-haired boy was also looking around the place with bored eyes and a frown, probably also wondering what why was it taking so long for his grandfather to get here.

Then he looked to his right, and as soon as he did he was met with Leaf's brown eyes glaring at him, prompting Red to simply blink at her, not getting what her problem was.

"What?" he voiced his confusion out-loud, also getting Gary's attention.

"I'm picking my Pokemon first, got it?" the girl suddenly declared, getting a confused look from Red and a frown from Gary.

"Excuse me? What makes you think you can decide that?! I'm his grandson so of course I get to pick-" Gary tried to complain, but he shut up as soon as Leaf's glare became focused on him. Instead he just looked at the other way while muttering under his breath.

"Whatever"

Then Leaf's attention went back to Red, who honestly didn't have a problem with her picking first. This was the start of her journey after all, so if he chose first he would feel like he was stealing something precious from her. Sure she might not act friendly at all, but he wasn't going to pick the Pokemon she liked just to spite her.

Same with Gary to be honest.

Besides he didn't have a particular preference towards the three starters. He had seen them all in action after all, and while a part of him wanted to choose Bulbasaur since that was the Pokemon he had more experience with out of the three, he also wanted the chance to train both Charmander and Squirtle.

Blue's Charizard and Green's Blasty had showed him the power that those two could have.

"Sure" he answered with a shrug, earning a nod from her, however he couldn't help but to add some more "Would it have killed you if you asked in a nicer way?"

"Yes" was the only answer she gave him before turning around, earning a deadpanned expression from the former Champion.

Then a coughing sound got the three's attention, said sound coming from none other than Professor Oak, who had just appeared in front of them.

"I'm sure you all must be exited, so follow me and I'll lead you to your future partners" the Professor said with a small smile before walking deeper into the lab, the three soon to be trainers following quickly.

They stopped as soon as the older man reached a weird looking machine. The Professor then simply pressed a button, making the top of the machine to split open, revealing three Pokeballs, each one with a little mark on it showing a type Pokemon.

Grass, Water and Fire.

"As you already know here in Kanto trainers can start with either one of three options: Bulbasaur the Grass type, Squirtle the Water type and Charmander the Fire type. It is my duty to give you your first Pokemon" He said with a serious voice, his eyes looking at each one of them.

"This is a very important decision that you shouldn't make lightly" Oak continued "so unless you have already thought about it feel free to rethink it a little bit"

Then the Professor simply stood there, wanting to see who would make the first move and what they would choose. He already knew what his grandson would choose though, he had make it quite clearly after all.

Then after a few seconds Leaf moved first, gaining everyone's attention. Her hand quickly grabbed one of the Pokeball, which made Red show a small nostalgic smile while Gary released a breath he didn't even knew he was holding.

"I pick Bulbasaur then!" the girl said before releasing said Pokemon from the Pokeball, and with a white flash the Grass/Poison dual type stood before them.

" **Bulba!"** the little Bulbasaur exclaimed as soon as it appeared, its eyes instantly meeting Leaf's brown ones. The girl actually smiled, something that Red hadn't seen her doing since he met her. Smirking? Sure, but just smiling? Never.

Then she kneeled and rubbed Bulbasaur's head, getting a happy squeal from the Kanto starter. In that time Professor Oak had moved towards her, holding various things Red recognized on his hands.

"Here" Oak said, earning Leaf's attention "This are your Pokeball, which you will of course use to catch more Pokemon, and your Pokedex. Not only it will help you get information of any Pokemon you see, but it will also work as your Trainer ID. It has plenty of other uses too"

"Thank you Professor" the girl said with a bow before grabbing the Pokeballs and the Pokedex. She then returned Bulbasaur to its own Pokeball before leaving the place.

Now that was another thing that confused Red. Back in his world Pokedex were extremely rare. So rare that besides him and his friends only a small bunch of other trainers had one. They even had a tittle: Dex Holders.

But here apparently they were quite a lot more usual to find. At least that how it looked like if every trainer actually had one.

He didn't know how to feel about that.

"Then I pick you, Squirtle!" Red was taken out of his thoughts by Gary's voice, who had just taken out the Pokemon he had chosen. Now in front of them stood confidently the tiny turtle Pokemon, paws on its side as if it was making an heroic pose

" **Squir, Squirtle!"** the water Pokemon said proudly before looking straight at Gary, who was doing the same. The Squirtle actually gave him a full look over before nodding approvingly and jumping towards him. Gary was barely able to catch him, but when he did he started rubbing its head like Leaf had done earlier

Then Professor Oak gave the same things to Gary, with a few extra words on how he knew he would bring even more pride to the last name Oak.

"Smell ya later Ashy-boy!" was the last thing Gary said before leaving with his Squirtle on his shoulder, getting a sweat drop from the black-haired teen.

Smell ya later? What did that even mean?! He could feel Charizard's Pokeball getting hotter, probably out of the Pokemon's angriness.

Red then looked towards the last remaining Pokeball of the three, a logo indicating Fire still on it. It was quite obvious what his starter was now, and he couldn't help but to get excited about it. Not only he would have his own Charmander but he was sure he could get Charizard to help him train Charmander.

"Alright then Charmander you're going with me!" Red said just as he grabbed the Pokeball. He then opened it, expecting for the small fire lizard to appear just like the other two starters before.

However…

"Eh?"

The Pokeball was empty. Nothing came out. Red even shook it a little bit but nothing. The black-haired teen was only able to look at the object with an empty look on his face, his eyes slowly going from it to the Professor.

"Oh right, I forgot" the old man suddenly said, his eyes widening as if he had remembered something "Another young boy came here really early in the morning and took Charmander with him… his name was Ritchie I believe"

Another trainer huh? Red could understand that, but then why was the Pokeball even there to begin with if it was empty.

"Why would you let an empty Pokeball in the selection…?" he voiced out his question to the Professor.

"I wanted to see who would be the lucky one" he answered with a straight face, earning a twitching eye from Red. The young man closed the Pokeball calmly and then proceeded to throw it towards the older man, directly to his face.

But Samuel Oak was faster and simply caught the sphere in his hand before chuckling at the fuming expression of the boy he saw as a second grandson.

"Don't worry Ash, I still have one more Pokemon and I think he will be perfect for you"

Red was relieved at hearing that, but he also got a little bit nervous because of the glint that appeared on the Professor's eyes as soon as he said that.

"Really?" the former Champion asked slowly, not liking the smile that had formed in the older man's face.

"Really" was his only answer before touching a button on the machine, making a fourth Pokeball appear, this one with a lightning mark on it.

'Oh boy…' Red couldn't help but to think, a sense of dread forming itself in his heart.

He had a bad feeling about this.

 **RGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGB**

 _An hour later, Route 1_

Déjà vu. That was something that Red wasn't used to feeling. He had experienced it before of course, but he normally just ignored it as a trick of his mind.

He couldn't do that now though. Not with his current situation. He thought that his problems with certain electric little mouse type of Pokemon were over, but apparently he was too naïve.

Either that or fate just liked to mess with him.

What was his situation to be precise? Well right now he was walking through an open field that was known as Route 1, which connected Pallet Town with Viridian City. That itself was pretty normal, after all he was a _new_ trainer from Pallet Town, so of course Route 1 would be his first destination.

No, the real problem was that, just like how he had done years ago when he was ten, he was dragging a small rodent known as Pikachu with a rope, since the Pokemon himself refused to even listening to him, and every attempt ended with him being shocked by the yellow mouse.

Of course this Pikachu was his starter Pokemon, since Professor Oak had decided that Pikachu was perfect for him.

As soon as he had seen the electric Pokemon he felt two things. Nostalgia since the Pikachu looked practically the same to his own Pika, and fear since the Pikachu had the exact same eyes that his Pika had when he caught it.

Eyes that said that he would get very familiar with electricity soon enough.

So here he was, dragging an uncooperative Pikachu with a rope, said Pikachu doing nothing but glaring daggers at him. At least when he was ten he still had Saur and Poli with him, so even if Pika didn't listen to him he could still rely on those two.

But this Pikachu was supposed to be his first Pokemon. Sure he still had Charizard, but it wasn't like he could just use Charizard for everything, so officially his only Pokemon was this Pikachu.

He was so screwed.

"So… are you sure you don't want me to carry you or something?" Red asked to the electric Pokemon, receiving nothing but a glare, with sparks coming off the Pikachu's cheeks. It had become plainly obvious for Red that Pikachu didn't like staying inside his Pokeball, which was fine with him since his Pika had been just the same, but there were better methods of transportation than just him dragging the Pokemon around.

The young trainer just released a sigh, his eyes looking at the giant field that they were currently in. It was quite the view; with the sun high on the sky the whole place looked really peaceful.

There were plenty of Pokemon too, some he recognized and some that he didn't. He found mostly bird like Pokemon, the most common one being Pidgey as far as he could see.

Of course thoughts of catching at least one Pokemon here had crossed his mind, but considering how difficult Pikachu was being that didn't sound like a good idea.

Deciding to stop for a moment to think about a plan of action Red walked towards a lonely three that was to the side of the road, still dragging Pikachu with him, much to the dismay of the Electric type.

The black-haired youth sat under the shadow of the tree, his back touching the wooden base. Pikachu sat a few feet away from him, with his back towards his trainer.

Another sigh escaped the trainer's lips, his eyes focused on the back of his first Pokemon in this world. He wasn't a stranger to stubborn Pokemon like him, heck his very own Pikachu had acted just the same when he caught him, but right now he didn't know what to do.

Before he would simply be patient with the Pokemon, after all gaining the trust of some of them wasn't easy, and that could easily make them not follow your orders.

Blue's Charizard came to mind at that moment. He knew that the only reason the Pokemon trusted him and obey him was because of Blue himself. The fact that his own Saur had been able to do toe to toe against him probably played a part of that too.

"So… why do you hate me so much?" Red suddenly asked, trying to see if he could get something out of the electric Pokemon. He got nothing but silence though, which just made him frown

"Oh c'mon… is there something I can do that would make you hate me any less?" subtle was not his thing, Red knew that, but it wasn't like he could afford too much time without moving. Apparently he had one year to get all eight medals, which was the requirement to enter the Indigo League.

Another difference from his world but he wouldn't complain. He just hoped some of the Gym Leaders were different in this world, after all half of them had been criminals back in his Kanto.

That thought immediately made him remember Giovanni. He didn't have any problems with the other Kanto Gym Leader that had once been criminals, after all they had redeemed themselves, but Giovanni was a whole new story.

He would never forgive that man, and if this world also had a version of him then he would stop him too, and Viridian city was the perfect place to figure that out.

Now if only Pikachu would at least respond in some form.

The black-haired teen just released a sigh in defeat, wondering if every Pikachu he met would hate him like this. He wasn't able to stay in that though for long though, since the sudden sound of ruffling leafs from above took away his attention.

The teen looked up with a curious face, wondering what the cause of that was. The answer came quickly for him, since a few seconds later a small figure swept down from the tree's leaf, landing just besides the trainer.

Red looked at the small being in both wonder and curiosity. It was a Pokemon alright, but he had never seen one like that, meaning it wasn't from any region he had visited. With a sudden idea the black-haired teen took out his Pokedex. It was certainly different from the one he had, but at least it was easy enough to use **(1)**

He took the red encyclopedia and opened, aiming it at the small Pokemon that was looking up at him with its head moved a little bit to the side, practically showing its curiosity.

And with the click of a button the Pokedex was suddenly brought to life, a mechanical voice coming out of it soon after.

 **[Rufflet, the Eaglet Pokemon. They will challenge anything, even strong opponents, without fear. Their frequent fights help them become stronger]**

"Rufflet, huh?" Red murmured while looking between the small bird Pokemon and his Pokedex. Catching a Pokemon right now wouldn't be such a bad idea, and this would certainly be a good first fight for him and Pikachu.

"Hey Pikachu, why don't we…" and his words died on his mouth as soon as Pikachu simply glared at him with sparks coming out of his cheeks.

"Well they can't say I didn't try" he whispered before chuckling a little bit. His attention was once again brought to the Rufflet, who had now starting flying around him, its big eyes glued firmly to his own brown eyes.

Then the next thing that happened took him by surprise. Rufflet suddenly moved and with a swift motion started pecking his head!

"Stop! Stop it!" Red shouted, moving his arms trying to stop the Normal/Flying Pokemon from breaking his skull with its beak; however it was to no avail since the Rufflet simply kept going at it with gusto.

"Pikachu help!" Seeing that the little bird was not going to stop he tried to get the help of his starter Pokemon, after all if someone could deal with a Flying Pokemon it was Pikachu, but the only thing he got from the electric rodent was a smirk.

He was on his own it seems.

However just after he honestly started considering wrestling with the Pokemon the Rufflet stopped and landed a few inches away from the black-haired trainer, its eyes now looking away into the horizon.

"Huh?" Red looked at the Unova Pokemon in confusion while he rubbed his head with his right hand, trying to sooth the pain the Pokemon had been inflicted on him. Of course he wasn't complaining about the Pokemon sudden stop, but he didn't understand why it stopped. His eyes then landed on Pikachu, whose eyes were also looking in the same direction as the Rufflet. Not only that but both his ears and tail were standing firm, almost as if he was on alert.

Red looked towards the direction in which both Pokemon were looking, his eyes growing wide as soon as he saw the black clouds that were looming over there, and that by the looks of things would be reaching this spot in no time.

However that wasn't all. The former champion narrowed his eyes, trying to get a better look at something on the distance, but before he could see what it was the Rufflet suddenly flew off, gaining the teen's attention. Not only that but plenty of other flying Pokemon suddenly took off from the tree above him in the complete opposite direction of the black clouds.

"This can't be good" he whispered before standing up and walking closer to Pikachu, who for the first time since they met didn't try to zap him, too focused on whatever was coming towards them.

Red could see it now too. He could see what, or rather _who_ was right now running towards him, and exactly what was making _her_ run so franticly.

"Shit" he couldn't help but to whispered, knowing that the situation was going to get worse. He could practically hear Yellow reprimanding him for his language on his head, but right now he didn't have any time for that.

It was time to move.

 **RGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGB**

 _Meanwhile_

Leaf was a proud girl; there was no denying of that. She had her reasons for being proud of course, and most of them relied on her family.

Both her parents loved grass Pokemon, in fact that's how they met. Her father was a Coordinator while her mother was a Trainer, and apparently both of them had hit it off as soon as they met, especially when they both realized that their love for grass Pokemon was mutual.

The rest, as they say, was history. In fact it was their love for that type of Pokemon that made them name her Leaf. While other may be annoyed by this she was quite proud of that name, so every time anyone made fun of it she shut them up as quickly as she could.

She had lost the count already of how many times she had hit Gary because of that, after all her mom always taught her to take no crap from anyone! She was headstrong too of course, just like her mom, another thing she was proud of.

Of course she grew surrounded by plenty of Pokemon from both her dad and mom, most of them grass ones, so it wasn't a surprise that she too took a real like towards them, so when the decision of choosing a Pokemon from Professor Oak arrived she didn't think it twice and chose the grass starter: Bulbasaur.

However things weren't as easy as she thought it would be, and this time it had been her impatience that got her into the mess she was currently in. Of course the first thing she had wanted to do was to have her first Pokemon fight alongside her Bulbasaur, so as soon as she had reached Route 1 she had looked for a Pokemon to fight, and maybe even capture.

A small Pidgey had been her first opponent, and while she knew that her Bulbasaur would have a disadvantage against a Flying Pokemon like Pidgey she still believed they could win.

However problems came quickly. For starters her Bulbasaur was rather… shy, so even though the Pidgey looked as harmless as it could be her Bulbasaur actually got scared of it.

She knew patience was not her forte, so when her Bulbasaur had decided that even a Sentret was scary she had gotten angry. Of course she didn't lash out at her Pokemon; her parents had told her more than once that being patience with some Pokemon was a necessity.

That didn't mean she hadn't released her anger though. She thought that by simply throwing rocks to a tree it would be enough while she thought of a way for Bulbasaur to stop being scared of everything.

Sadly one of those rocks didn't hit the tree. Instead it had hit the same type of Pokemon that was now chasing her with the obvious intent of harming her.

Spearow.

Well now she knew first hand just how much resent one of them could have, since just after that the Normal/Flying type had called his friends, who were now chasing her.

Yep, that was a good way to sum up her first day as a trainer. She messed up and now was being chased by a flock of Spearow while she ran for her life. She didn't even bother to take out her Bulbasaur, knowing that the Grass/Poison dual type wouldn't be able to do much.

So basically she was screwed. It didn't help that she was getting really tired already. She could barely feel her legs, she was breathing hard and the Spearows were getting closer by the second. She could hear their yells of angriness from behind her, but she refused to turn around.

Heck tears were threatening to leave her eyes. This was not how she had planned her journey to begin!

"Leaf!" however a voice that the brown-haired girl recognized very well. She turned her head to the side of the road and there he was, one of the two boys that could be considered her childhood friends: Ash Ketchum.

She didn't think she would ever feel relieved at seeing one of her fellow Pallet Town's trainers, but right now she would take any help she could get, and at least Ash was the less annoying of the two boys.

Sadly her attention being on the black-haired boy caused her to slip, making her fall face first into the ground with a grunt. The worst came a few seconds later though, since the Spearows took advantage of this to finally reach her, immediately attacking her with either their beaks or their talons. The young girl gasped in pain, using her arms to try and get the Spearows of her, but it didn't work.

Red, who had been running towards the girl already, saw this, which made his eyes go wide and his legs to move faster. He was carrying Pikachu of course, the small mouse for once not shocking him, easily sensing how serious the current situation was.

"Leave her alone!" as soon as Red got to the girl he dropped Pikachu and took of his jacket and used it to scare away the Spearows that were attacking Leaf.

The Spearows flew away from both trainer, but they didn't go too far, more than ready to start a attacking once again.

"C'mon we need to move!" Red said while extending his hand towards Leaf, which the girl gladly took. He helped her get up and then both started running, with Red holding Leaf's hand. The trainer made sure to pick up Pikachu once again though, which of course annoyed the mouse, but once again he would not shock the boy.

At least not right now.

Both trainers ran as fast as they could through the vast plains of Route 1. The wind moved swiftly around him, and even droplets of water started falling on them from the dark clouds that were now above them.

It didn't take much for the rain to start; soaking both trainers and Pokemon, but not even that stopped the Spearows from chasing them. Red could easily tell that the situation was doomed if they continued to just run, the Spearows were gaining on them and Leaf could barely even run at this point.

"Dammit" the black-haired trainer said under his breath, trying to think of a way to get out of this. He could only think of two ideas, but one relied of Pikachu to finally listen to him while the other would expose Charizard to Leaf, something that he couldn't allow.

Plan one it was then.

"Pikachu, I need your help!" Red suddenly yelled gaining the attention of both his Pokemon and his fellow trainer.

While Leaf just showed confusion since it was now that she took notice of the Pikachu, the yellow mouse simply glared at the boy that was his trainer. Did he really think he would help him?

"Please!" Red said again, and Pikachu could feel the desperation in his voice. The Electric type Pokemon just glared up at the teen, however after a few seconds he just huffed and wiggled his way out of the trainer's grip, landing in the ground while facing the flock of Spearow that were getting close to them.

Sure Pikachu didn't like his _trainer_. It wasn't anything personal, he just disliked humans in general, and if it was up to him he wouldn't have to deal with them ever. But that didn't mean he wanted them dead or anything, which looking at how much the Spearows wanted to get them might be the final outcome if he didn't help.

So just this time he would help them.

So with a yell of his own name Pikachu released a Thunder Shock straight at the flock of Spearow, hitting the ones on the middle directly. Not only that but the fact that they were soaked by the rain boosted the damage they took.

The Spearows broke from the group, the ones hurt falling to the ground, all of them passed out. Pikachu didn't give time for the others to attack and simply launched another Thunder Shock, the yellow lightning hitting a few more of the Normal/Flying dual type Pokemon

Meanwhile Red couldn't help but to smile at the fact that Pikachu was actually helping him, while Leaf stared at awe at the power that the yellow mouse had.

The few Spearows that were left didn't even try to attack Pikachu anymore. Instead they kept a safe distance from the Electric Pokemon while Pikachu huffed a little, not used to throwing so many attacks like that.

"I think we're safe now…" Red whispered to Leaf, thinking that now the Spearow will leave them alone. However he couldn't have predicted what was about to happen.

Suddenly the Spearows that were still flying let out a combined yell. That made both trainers and Pikachu to frown in confusion, having no idea what they were doing.

"What's going on?" Leaf suddenly asked, her eyes glued to the Spearows.

"I have no idea… but it can't be good" Red answered back, another bad feeling setting itself in his gut.

Suddenly a mighty yell resembling a roar was heard, making Red and Leaf's eyes to go wide. It didn't take long for a giant form to fly above them, its shadow casting over both trainers.

The figure moved faster that they could follow and ended up setting itself between Pikachu and the Spearows.

"That's a…" Leaf started, fear once again showing on her eyes.

"Fearow!" Red finished for her, his eyes also wide and shock at seeing the Normal/Flying Pokemon.

Of course Red had seen plenty of Fearows before. He had even caught one when he had met Bill back when he had started his journey, but this Fearow looked a lot more menacing that any other he had seen. Scars covered its beak, talons and face, while its feathers were of a darker shade of brown than usual. He was even bigger than any other Fearow he had seen!

This was obviously the leader of the flock, and it was obvious enough the amount of fight the evolved Pokemon got itself into, probably for territorial purpose if what he knew of Spearows and Fearows was true.

The mighty Normal/Flying type was glaring down at them, its wings flapping slowly. However Red saw how its focus slowly moved from them to Pikachu, making its prey quite obvious.

"Pikachu look out!" however it was too late. With a sudden movement the Fearow dashed at the small mouse

In response Pikachu tried to attack him with another Thunder Shock, but the Fearow was not the leader of this flock for nothing. It easily dodged the attack but kept moving towards the Electric, a white aura surrounding the evolved Pokemon.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to dodge the attack Pikachu braced himself for the impact. However instead of pain he felt himself being surrounded by a pair of arms before being launched into the sky and landing quite hard in the ground.

The yellow mouse slowly opened his eyes, having no idea what had happened, however it became obvious once he realized Red was hugging him with his body now lying on the ground, result of being hit by the Fearow's Aerial Ace instead of him.

"You… ok?" Red managed grunt out in pain. He had taken Fearow's attack right on his left side and it hurt like hell, but he didn't regret taking the attack for Pikachu, after all he was helping them even though he obviously didn't want to, so this was the least he could do to pay him back.

"Ash!" Leaf yelled, honestly worried about the teen. She ran towards them, but she couldn't help but to gasp as soon as she saw what Fearow had done to him. There was a big slash across his left arm that had ripped both his clothes and his skin! He was even bleeding!

Pikachu for his part was simply left speechless. Why had he taken the hit for him? It just didn't make any sense in his head! He had never seen a human taking an attack for their Pokemon, and considering how bad he had treated the teen he just couldn't understand why Ash had helped him.

" **Pika…pi?"** Pikachu asked confused, to which Red simply chuckled a little bit, still in obvious pain.

"What? We're still partners. You might not like it but I'm not going to let you fight alone" the former champion answered while trying to stand up. Luckily for him Leaf reached him and helped him by lending him a shoulder.

Red then glared up at the Fearow that was now circling around them, probably trying to reach Pikachu first. The Normal/Flying Pokemon wasn't dumb, and probably knew that Pikachu was the biggest threat to him.

Red had other plans though. That Fearow was too strong. He honestly doubted that Pikachu would be able to take him on, specially with how shaken up the little guy seemed to be. It was obvious that the Fearow wouldn't leave them alone though, so Red only had one choice.

Well there goes his plan of not depending on Charizard.

"Leaf" he suddenly said while still looking up at the Fearow, getting the girls attention, who just raised an eyebrow at him "I need you to take Pikachu and get as far as you can from here"

He couldn't let her see Charizard though, there was just too much risk by doing that, and if she took Pikachu with her at least he would be safer, just in case.

Of course the brown-haired girl took offense to that. Did he really think she was going to leave him alone to fight that thing? Without his own Pokemon?! She knew Ash could be dumb but this was too much!

And she was about to voice her complains, but the words died on her mouth as soon as Red looked at her. She had never seen him with such a serious expression on her life.

"I'll be fine" Red continued with a serious tone "but I need you to search for help while I distract it. Viridian City isn't so far from here" he said while handing her Pikachu, who wasn't even paying attention, still lost on his thoughts.

"Go!" Red ended up yelling at her, not liking it but he needed for her to leave. Leaf ended up just nodding mutely before turning around and starting running, her whole perception of Ash Ketchum being shifted on her head.

However the Fearow wasn't going to let its prey get away so easily, so with another yell it tried to chase them, but it was stopped when a sudden object was thrown at it, courtesy of Red.

As soon as the Fearow recognized it, it destroyed it with a flap of his wings, which were covered with a white energy. The Fearow recognized the object as a Pokeball; after all he had seen plenty of the members of his flock getting captured in one of those.

And it would not let itself be captured by anyone. It glared down at the boy that had thrown the Pokeball at him, who was now running on the opposite direction of the other human and the Pikachu. Quickly deciding it's pray the Fearow flapped its wings and dashed towards the black-haired trainer, who couldn't get very far with the wound he already had.

Red ran as fast as his legs allowed him, which wasn't much to be honest, but he needed to make some distance and to make sure the Fearow wouldn't go for Leaf, which was why he had thrown the Pokeball. It definitely worked since he could hear Fearow chasing him from behind.

He reached inside of his jacket for the Pokeball he needed, however the Fearow moved faster, and before Red was able to release his Pokemon the Normal/Flying dual type slammed into his back, making the former champion to yell in pain before falling face down into the soaked grass.

Ever so slowly Red managed to stand up, tired eyes looking up at the Fearow who was preparing to attack him once again. He honestly couldn't feel his left arm, while in his right hand he gripped Charizard's Pokeball tightly.

With another flap of wings the Fearow dived towards the trainer, which made him spring into action, quickly throwing the Pokeball at it.

"Charizard, Flamethrower!" That was a no brainer, after all if there was a move that he knew Charizard excelled it was definitely that one.

The ball opened and with a roar the Fire/Flying Kanto starter appeared, catching the Fearow by surprise. The bird Pokemon stopped his diving, but Charizard didn't relent, and with a quick move he roared a stream of fire out of his maw, hitting the Fearow directly.

Said Pokemon released a cry of pain, the burst of fire even sending him backwards with how much strength it packed.

For his part Charizard landed on the ground, his flaming tail releasing steam thanks to the still going rain, however something like that was nothing but a little nuisance to the Fire/Flying Pokemon. He glared at the Fearow before looking back at Red, his eyes focusing on the wound the former champion had on his left arm.

"I'm fine" Red said, looking straight at Charizard's eyes "Lets deal with Fearow first, this should be a good exercise for you!" he continued with a small smile, earning a grunt from Charizard, who then simply flapped his wings and took the sky, flying directly towards the Fearow who had now recovered.

"Use Flamethrower again!" Red ordered, to which Charizard complied, releasing another stream of fire from his mouth directly into the Fearow. However the Normal/Flying type Pokemon wasn't the leader of the flock for nothing, and managed to avoid the attack by flying upwards with a boost of speed.

Charizard kept pursuing Fearow, releasing fire as much as he could, but the bird Pokemon proved to simply be faster and dodged every attack. Then a white energy surrounded it before it suddenly disappeared, a second later appearing just above Charizard and diving towards him.

"Block with Steel Wing!" Red knew that dodging something like Aerial Ace was practically impossible, so Charizard had no other choice but to block. Charizard's wing were suddenly covered with a grey energy that almost made them look metallic just before he used them as a shield to avoid the attack that Fearow had been aiming at his body.

Fearow's body slammed against Charizard's wings, making both of them to grunt a little bit in pain.

"Repel him and Flamethrower!" said Red as soon as Fearow impacted Charizard. In response Charizard flapped his wings as hard as he could, sending Fearow back, and before he was able to recover he launched another stream of fire, once again getting a cry of pain from Fearow as soon as it him it.

Fearow made as much distance as he could from Charizard, definitely not used to receiving such strong hits. Even the other Pokemon it had defeated to earn this territory weren't as strong as this Charizard, and while the rain helped a little bit it wasn't enough.

The next thing Fearow did was to dash towards Charizard as quick as it could. It's beak suddenly gaining a white aura.

After another command from Red Charizard threw another Flamethrower at the Fearow, but this time the Normal/Flying Pokemon was ready and managed to avoid the attack by spinning around it.

The point of Fearow's beak impacted directly into Charizard's belly, getting a grunt of pain from him, but Fearow wasn't done. It released a fury of attacks with its beak directly at his body.

"Charizard match him with Dragon Claw!" Red knew Blue's Charizard wasn't much of a close combat fighter, but at least Blue had kept his physical attribute up to part with the rest.

A purple, almost blue energy surrounded Charizard's claws just before he tried slashing at Fearow, but said Pokemon managed to avoid it before flaying up, to which Charizard quickly followed.

Red followed both Pokemon with his eyes, however he soon lost sight of Fearow when the Pokemon flew past the black clouds that covered the sky, and by the look of things Charizard was about to follow him.

"Wait, Charizard!" He suddenly yelled, knowing that things could get bad if he suddenly lost sight of Charizard too "Get down quickly, he's planning something!"

The Kanto started followed the order, but not quick enough as a few seconds later Fearow flew towards him like a missile, it's whole body surrounded by a massive purple energy with yellow streaks coming out of the front.

"He knows Giga Impact?! Charizard keep going down!" Red ordered, an idea appearing on his mind. Normally using a move like the one he was planning was pretty much useless in such a fast Pokemon like Fearow, but in this situation it might work.

Charizard dive bombed as fast as he could, with Fearow following him even faster. At this rate there was no doubt that Fearow would reach Charizard, but Red needed to be certain the attack will or else it would be for nothing.

The perfect moment came a few seconds later.

"Now! Turn around and use Blast Burn!" as soon as Red ordered him that Charizard's eyes shined red, the flame of his tail becoming twice as strong. The Fire/Flying suddenly turned, facing the Giga Impact of Fearow head on. From his maw the strongest fire he could create was formed, and not even a second later he launched a beam of yellow, almost golden fire from his mouth, with even rings of fire surrounding the stream.

Fearow didn't even have the time to react as the ultimate fire attack hit him, creating a massive explosion. Charizard was barely able to flap his wings in order to not slam into the ground, a big cloud of smoke now hiding Fearow from everyone's view.

The next time it appeared Fearow was obviously unconscious, it's body failing freely towards the ground, its whole body covered in burn marks.

However before it hit the ground a Pokeball hit it directly, getting the Pokemon inside like a red beam. The ball touched the ground, shacking a few times before staying still with a click sound, evidence that the Fearow had been captured.

Red huffed tiredly, moving slowly towards the Pokeball that now had _his_ Fearow, with Charizard landing not far from it. The former champion picked the Pokeball up, still not used to not being able to see what Pokemon was in the Pokeball like he did back in his world.

Then he smiled towards Charizard before chuckling a little bit, said chuckle quickly turning into a full blown laugh, which just made Charizard to blink confusedly at the teen.

Red stopped laughing once his body touched the ground backwards, too tired to even move at this point, however he still kept the relieved smile, using his right hand to wash away the water in his face.

"Told you I would get you to stretch your wings!" the black-haired teen suddenly said towards Charizard, who just huffed in response, releasing smoke from his nose, which honestly just made Red chuckle a little bit more.

However he then looked up in curiosity once the drops of water stopped hitting his face. What greeted them was a sudden ray of light coming from the clouds that were now dispersing.

It didn't take long for the sun to completely shine through, making Red to shield his eyes with his right hand. He had to admit that after all that the sun certainly looked beautiful, but it was the next thing he saw that truly took his breath away.

A majestic bird flying through the sky, with a golden aura covering its whole body, a rainbow forming itself just behind the path it followed. Both trainer and Pokemon were left speechless at the spectacle, but it was Red the one that recognized the Pokemon.

"Ho-Oh…?" Red whispered, recognizing the legendary Rainbow Pokemon. It was hard not to, considering that he had once fought against it. He had no idea why such a Pokemon would be flying here of all places, but he certainly wouldn't complain.

"Gold will be so jealous when I tell him" he then murmured, his eyelids growing too heavy for him to keep his eyes open. The events of the day were finally getting to him, and even though he knew this wasn't the best time for that, right now he only wanted to sleep for a while.

The last thing he was able to do was to get Charizard in his Pokeball before the Kanto starter managed to complain. He didn't even have the strength to hide the Pokeball though, so it simply ended up in his hand.

And then there was nothing but darkness.

 **RGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGB**

 **(1): Basically picture the Unova Dex**

 **Well that was a long one. A little slow but I just wanted to test how good I could write a Pokemon fight, I hope it was of your liking.**

 **Yes, Red's starter is Pikachu. No big changes there. And no, Charizard won't become this Deux Ex Machina that will get Red out of every trouble so don't worry about that**

 **Just to not confuse anyone, this Red has the thing of always nicknaming his Pokemon, normally with a part of their own name, so when I mention one of Red old Pokemon I will do it by their nickname, same in the future for any Pokemon Red capture (Charizard and Pikachu being an exception since Charizard isn't his Pokemon and I will explain Pikachu in the next chapter). In case you were wondering though:**

 **Poli = Poliwrath**

 **Saur = Venusaur**

 **Pika = Pikachu (his old one)**

 **Aero = Aerodactyl**

 **Gyara = Gyrados**

 **Snor = Snorlax**

 **Vee = Espeon**

 **Yeah I know pretty obvious but I just don't want confusion, so I'll end this with a little bit on certain Pokemon (This is the official information taken out of Bulbapedia, except the movements)**

 **Pokemon: Charizard**

 **Original Trainer: Blue Oak**

 **Gender: Male**

 **Ability: Blaze**

 **Nature: Bold**

 **Movements: Flamethrower, Blast Burn, Steel Wing, Dragon Claw, Fly, Fire Punch**

 **Thank you all for reading, reviewing, following and favorite this fic!**

 **Next Chapter: Viridian**


	3. Viridian Memories

"Red" Normal Speech

'Green' People's thoughts

 **"Charizard"** Other being's speech

' **Mewtwo'** Other being's thoughts

 **[Pokedex]** Pokedex entries

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. It belongs to The Pokemon Company, Nintendo, Game Freak and Satoshi Tajiri**

 **Warning: This fanfic contains spoilers of the** _ **Pokemon Adventure (Up to the Emerald saga)**_ **manga. You can easily read this fic without having read the manga though, and this is just for those that want to avoid spoilers from it**

 **Chapter 2**

 **Viridian Memories**

 _Viridian City_

With a gasp Red's eyes opened wide, a frantic expression on his face, his breathing becoming even harder with each second.

A sound repeated itself in Red's ears. It repeated itself faster with each second it passed, and while it would normally annoy Red his mind was too worried right now to think of anything.

What the hell had been that? A nightmare he guessed, but there was something a lot different. This one felt too real for his taste, and even now he could hear that same twisted voice mocking him.

Bile rose to his throat once he remembered the screams of his friends and fellow Pokedex Holders. He slowly sat up and tried to control his breathing while moving his right hand to his face. He could feel the cold sweat that was now on his forehead.

'It was just a nightmare, just a nightmare…' the former champion repeated on his head, trying his best to calm himself down. It took him a few minutes but he was finally able to breathe normally. He would love to say that by now he was used to it, but even after months of the same dream it still made his whole body shiver every time he woke up.

He didn't even understand _why_ he was like this. It had started as soon as his first day in this world, but even know he couldn't make sense of whatever was plaguing his mind. It was as if every time he woke up the memories became as hazy as they could.

But even so part of the nightmare always stuck on his heart. Not enough to understand it, but definitely more than sufficient to have him wish he could come in contact with _anyone_ he knew, even if just for a second, just to confirm they were alright.

'Just a nightmare' honestly at that point that thought was the only thing keeping him sane. It was a nightmare, nothing else, his friends were fine and he would see them again as soon as possible, and then they will just laugh up all of this as just another adventure.

They were fine.

They _had_ to be.

And it was a few seconds later that he realized where he was.

He recognized the place as one of the rooms that Pokemon Centers had for trainers that needed a place to rest. With his eyes he inspected the place, which was really basic to be honest, with white walls plastering the room, a couple of chairs and a bed, in which he was now on.

He also realized that the sound from before, which has now become slower, was some sort of machine that was connected to him. He wasn't even wearing his clothes; instead he had some sort of gown.

Confusion made itself present on his mind, his expression mirroring it. The last thing he remembered was seeing Ho-Oh after the fight against the Fearow, so how did he get here? Where was he anyway? He got that he was in a Pokemon Center but where exactly?

His mind didn't have mucho time to process these questions though, since just a second later the door of the room opened, a woman and a Pokemon that he both recognized easily entering the room, both with relieved smiles.

 **RGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGB**

 _Meanwhile_

On the lobby of the Pokemon Center that resided in Viridian City there were 3 individuals, two girls and one Pokemon, currently sitting around a small table, each one with different expressions and thoughts storming their minds.

One of them was none other than Pikachu, the small rodent that was officially Ash Ketchum's starter Pokemon. The electric type was currently looking down, his expression one of both confusion and worry.

If someone had told him that he would ever worry about the health of a human he would have just laughed at them, after all he had always disliked humans. Pikachu liked his freedom, and just the thought of one of them coming and taking that away from him by capturing him like he had seen plenty of times was enough to make him see red.

This was why when that old man had caught him he had felt both angry and scared. He hated being confined in small spaces, and there was nothing smaller for him than a Pokeball.

Sadly the next time he had gotten out it had been to greet his _trainer_. A boy named Ash Ketchum. He had made his displeasure _very_ obvious to him of course, and honestly he had been thinking of ways to escape during the whole day he had spent with Ash.

But then the Spearows and Fearow attacked, and that damn boy he had wanted to ditch had actually risked his life to protect him. Not only that but he had even stayed to face the Fearow alone just to give him and that girl time to escape!

Pikachu didn't know what to believe anymore. There was a part of his head that was telling him that it was all a trick somehow, and that Ash just wanted to take advantage of him, but then there was a bigger part of him telling him that the boy was different.

He didn't know what to do, but one thing was for certain. He was worried about Ash, and right now he only wanted to see him alive and well, hoping that seeing him would sort out his feelings.

Meanwhile, just besides the electric mouse there sat the only girl from the trio of childhood friends that had started their journey yesterday, and just like the Pokemon besides her Leaf was looking down, a gloomy expression present on her face.

There were so many thoughts on the girl's mind that she felt like steam would escape her ears at any moment, but all of those thoughts had something in common, and that was the boy she had practically grown up with: Ash Ketchum.

She had known him for practically her whole life, and in all honesty she couldn't say the two were too close. He was too immature for her taste, and while she could tell he was a good boy, especially with how kind he was, she still found him rather obnoxious.

Especially when he argued with Gary about everything. God did she show them what a mean punch she could pack when they started going off at each other.

But now she found herself more than a little confused. Yesterday she had seen a side of him that she thought didn't exist. He had appeared when she honestly thought no one would help her, and then he had stayed to fend off the Fearow in order to protect her.

He had saved her life. She wasn't dumb, she knew what might have happened if Ash hadn't appear when he did. In fact the first thing she had done after getting here and making sure Ash got some treatment was to call her mom and dad.

She didn't tell them what had happened since she didn't want to worry them, but just hearing their voiced had been enough to calm her down. She wanted to tell them about Ash too but she just didn't know what to say.

However what had shocked her most had been Ash's eyes. The look he gave her after Fearow had attacked him had not been one of fear, but one of determination. It was as if he was used to putting his life on the line.

But that couldn't be, of course, but there was one thing she could say without a doubt, even though she would never admit it.

Ash had looked, for a lack of better words, cool.

It was the third member of the group the only that didn't actually know Red, or Ash as he was known here. This person was another girl, slightly older than Leaf, with orange hair tied in a side-ponytail, green eyes and a yellow outfit with blue highlights.

Her name was Misty Waterflower, the current Gym Leader of the Cerulean City Gym every since her sisters dumped the job on her. Not that anyone there knew that of course.

If someone had told Misty how her day yesterday would end she wouldn't have believed them. It had been kind of surreal actually. She had been fishing in a small river, simply minding her own business when a younger girl with a Pikachu had appeared, begging her to help them.

Of course she had told yes almost immediately. She hadn't been able to get many details from Leaf with how frantic the girl had been, but she had gotten the gist of it. Apparently a Pokemon had attacked her and a boy named Ash had stayed to fend off the Pokemon.

She had to admit that the first thing that had come to her mind was that Ash Ketchum was either really brave or really dumb to do something like that.

They had found the boy lying on the ground passed out, with a few wounds, the most noticeable one being the cut that ran through his left arm. Between her and Leaf they had been able to carry the teen as quick as they could to Viridian City, which was thankfully not very far from where they had been.

Once they reached the place they had met Officer Jenny, who had, with the help of her motorcycle, brought them to the Pokemon Center, where both Nurse Joy and Chansey had quickly started attending the black-haired teen.

That had been yesterday, and now she, alongside Leaf and Ash's Pikachu, were waiting to hear something about the boy's condition. She didn't know him personally of course, but she still couldn't help but to worry.

All three of them were taken out of their thoughts once Nurse Joy appeared in front of them, holding her ever present kind smile.

"How is he? Did something happen?!" Leaf was the first one to speak while standing up, with Misty doing the same while Pikachu got his whole attention on the pink-haired woman, who in response simply smiled a little bit wider.

 **RGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGB**

 _With Red_

A now dressed Red stood to the side of his bed, a stunned expression on his face. Nurse Joy had basically given him a resume of what had happened while he was unconscious, along with a new set of his clothes that were on is backpack.

She had also gave him the two Pokeballs that had owners already, one of them belonging to Pikachu, which was empty, while the other held the Fearow that had attacked him yesterday. She had also told him to take it easy, and that while he had been treated with the best they could offer he might still feel a little hit of soreness from his left arm.

Of course he had quickly got dressed, and it was at that moment that he had entered in full panic mode. The reason of that being simple enough: He had no idea where Charizard's Pokeball was!

Nurse Joy hadn't given it to him, and it wasn't with his other stuff! Just the thought of Charizard's Pokeball being somewhere in Route 1 was more than enough to make him go pale. Heck he could practically feel Blue's glare at the back of his head.

When he gets back to his world he would omit the part when he lost Blue's Pokemon, for the sake of his health.

He would have continued panicking but the door of his room was suddenly opened with a lot more force than before, getting the former champion's attention.

Then his eyes met the ones of Leaf, prompting a small grin from the black-haired teen. He already knew that the girl was fine, but it was good to see it for himself.

He also noticed how Pikachu was also standing there, just besides Leaf. The yellow mouse was looking up at him, looking a lot less grumpy that before. In fact his expression looked more confused and curious than anything else.

"Yo!" Red said in greeting, with his right hand up. In response Leaf simply blinked owlishly at him, the brown-haired girl slowly moving closer to her fellow Pallet Town trainer.

Then without a warning the girl threw a punch at the teen's face. Without thinking Red closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, waiting for the punch to hit him, but instead the only thing he felt was a finger smashing into his fore-head, causing him to yelp in surprise before rubbing the place in which he got hit.

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was the glare Leaf was throwing at him, her hands now on her hips. Had he been a lesser man he would have probably cowered in fear, but at this point he was far too used to glares like that.

 _Glaring_ was Blue's default expression after all.

So he simply raised both his hands in defense while giving a step back, chuckling awkwardly, trying to ignore the cold sweat that once again was going down his brow.

Oh right, he sucked at dealing with girls, as Green liked to point out every time she could.

"You better not try to make another stupid stunt like that, Ash Ketchum!" Leaf yelled, catching the boy by surprise. She kept glaring at him for a few seconds more before sighing, a softer look appearing on her eyes "Still… thank you… for saving me I mean"

"No problem!" he answered with a smile, making her huff while looking to the side. Then his eyes focused on his first Pokemon in this world, who was still looking up at him almost in wonder.

"What about you, Pikachu? Feeling better?" Red asked just before kneeling down and extending his right hand to pet the electric type. He honestly expected to be either shocked or getting a glare from the Pokemon, but instead Pikachu just let him pet him, clearly not used to someone doing that to him.

" **Pika…pi?"** Pikachu asked while looking straight at Red's left arm. Ash understood the question almost immediately, and in response simply grinned at the rodent.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Nothing that a night of rest didn't fix!" the black-haired trainer answered while patting his left shoulder with his right hand, immediately cringing a little bit in pain but still trying to maintain a smile to not worry Pikachu or Leaf.

"So you finally woke up, huh? You had us all worry for a second there, you know? Specially your girlfriend here" another person said from the door in the room, with a voice that Red recognized perfectly. His eyes widened in shock while his attention was quickly brought to the person who had just talked.

While Leaf was now blushing and trying to deny what he had just heard Red just looked at the newcomer, a rush of different feelings invading his heart.

"Misty…" the former champion whispered, easily recognizing the orange-haired girl. How could he not? After all outside of the Dex Holders Misty was his closest friend. They had traveled together for a short time, she had saved him countless times, and it was her that gave him one of his most trusted Pokemon, Gyara.

His feelings for her were more than just friendship. He trusted her with his life. Heck, one could even say that she had been his first real friend, back when he and Blue were nothing but rivals, Green just a sly girl that could trick him easily and when he hadn't met any of the other Dex Holders.

And now, seeing her, even though he _knew_ it wasn't his Misty, it was still enough to stir his hearth. Nostalgia filled him, and in that moment he wanted to do nothing but hug the orange-haired girl.

He remembered actually doing it when he had seen Leaf for the first time, thinking it was Green. That ended up with him getting knocked into submission.

"Eh? You two know each other?" Leaf asked after calming down, her eyes going from Red to Misty. She could see that her childhood friend was looking at the girl with a weird amount of focus, while the girl simply looked confused at him.

"Not that I'm aware off" Misty answered while crossing her arms over her chest. She had never seen neither of them in her life, so how did this boy know her name?

Once Red realized he was the focus of the two girls he quickly shook his head, cursing himself on his head for messing up like that.

"No! I just, I mean, she reminds me of some I knew…kind off, and her name was Misty! Just like yours apparently… what a coincidence, right?" the former champion finished lamely with a chuckle, simply getting narrowed eyes from Leaf and a raised eyebrow from Misty.

"Well as long as you're ok, mister big-shot" Misty continued, trying to dispel the awkward silence that had covered the room. After that the water-type specialist left the room, living Red, Leaf and Pikachu alone.

Leaf kept her eyes on Red with a suspicious look on her face. In response Red kept chuckling, trying to pass it as a joke.

The brown-haired girl ended up just sighing, curious but deciding to not push it right now. She would have enough time to do it later anyway.

Suddenly remembering something the girl started looking at her own backpack, earning the attention of both Red and Pikachu.

"I almost forgot! I don't know why but you had this toy with you when we found you…" the girl said while taking out an object that made Red's eyes to go wide. He quickly snatched it from Leaf's hand, looking at it with a big grin.

In response Charizard just glared from inside his Pokeball, pleased that the boy now looked better than before but not liking to be handled by anyone except his own trainer and those he considered close to said trainer.

Leaf didn't know why Red was so happy. She also had one of those little toys of course, fake Pokeballs that were see-through so you could see the small figurine of a Pokemon inside. Her dad had given her one, but instead of a Charizard it had a small Venusaur inside.

For his part Red felt a massive weight leave his shoulders. He had already planned running towards Route 1 in order to look for Charizard but now he had the Fire/Flying dual type on his hands! Not only that but both Pikachu and Leaf were now actually acting a lot friendlier towards him.

Maybe seeing Ho-Oh actually gave him good luck!

If only he knew.

 **RGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGB**

 _Next Day_

Red released a big yawn, his feet dragging him towards the small arena that was just behind the Pokemon Center. Just in front of him were both Leaf and Misty, talking to each other with smiles about things that honestly didn't matter much to the black-haired teen.

Just besides him was Pikachu, also looking quite tired because of how early it was. Still, Red couldn't be more relieved about the fact that Pikachu didn't seem to hate him anymore. He was still very wary of both Leaf and Misty but at least he had stopped shocking him for practically nothing, so progress was progress.

Sadly Pikachu still refused to any nicknames Red had managed to come up with for the small rodent. It was just a thing he liked, naming his own Pokemon. It made him feel closer to them.

Blue had said that he found it unnecessary, which was why Charizard didn't have a nickname, while both Green and Yellow had also nicknamed their own Pokemon.

The reason for all of them to be up so early was that yesterday Leaf had explained how she had gotten into that mess with the Spearows to begin with, and after a little bit of talk Red had convinced the girl of letting him help her with her Bulbasaur's nervousness by having the Kanto started battle against Pikachu, who had actually agreed once Red had asked him for help.

This was why all of them were standing on one side of the field, which was quite normal, with white lines making the area around it and the middle of it.

"Alright Bulbasaur, get out!" Leaf said while opening her only Pokemon's Pokeball, the small Grass/Poison dual type appearing in a flash of light.

The Seed Pokemon smiled up to her trainer, having no idea of what had happened two days ago. She also smiled toward the two other humans that were looking at her with kind smiles, but once her eyes met those of Pikachu, who was waving at her with a small smile of his own, her eyes widened and with a cry she ran towards her trainer, hiding behind her leg and practically using her as a shield from Pikachu.

"See? This is what I mean" Leaf said with a sigh before kneeling and rubbing her Bulbasaur's head in a attempt at calming her down.

Both Red and Misty nodded, each one looking at Bulbasaur with curiosity. Of course both of them had seen shy Pokemon before, but this looked a lot more serious than that.

"Why don't you show us what your Pokedex says about Bulbasaur? It might help us" Misty suggested, earning a nod from Leaf and a raised eyebrow from Red.

The brown-haired girl quickly took out her Pokedex and aimed it at her Bulbasaur, while the Grass/Poison dual type looked up in curiosity and wonder. Both Misty and Red moved closer to Leaf in order to see what the Pokedex say, although the later already pretty much knew it by heart, but maybe this world's Pokedex would have some different info?

It didn't take long for the device to speak.

 **[Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokemon. Bulbasaur can be seen napping in bright sunlight. There is a seed on its back. By soaking up the sun's rays, the seed grows progressively larger]**

Both girls then looked deep in thought, trying to come up with something that might help Bulbasaur. Red on the other hand simply moved to the other side of the field, Pikachu following quickly.

"Well let's try a battle then!" Red declared with a smile, earning both girls' attention.

"I don't think that's a good idea…" Misty said while looking down at the Bulbasaur that once again was using her trainer as a shield as soon as she heard the word battle.

"We won't attack. Bulbasaur can focus on the offensive while Pikachu and I focus on dodging. It should be easier that way I think" Red shot back, deciding that baby steps were needed. The first thing should be for Bulbasaur to stop being afraid of other Pokemon, so maybe attacking without fearing a counterattack would help.

"What do you say Bulbasaur? You want to try? I promise you won't get hurt!" Leaf said with a smile, truly hoping that her starter Pokemon would at least try.

"What do you say Bulbasaur? You want to try? I promise you won't get hurt!" Leaf said with a smile, truly hoping that her starter Pokemon would at least try.

Bulbasaur for her part just looked up at her trainer with obvious nervousness on her eyes. Then her gaze went to both Red and Pikachu. She had to admit that the Pikachu looked harmless enough, and he was even waiving at her with a smile, while the other human obviously knew her own trainer, so he couldn't be that bad.

Bulbasaur ended up giving a determined nod to her trainer, which got a huge smile from the brown-haired girl. Then the Kanto started moved slowly to stand in front of Leaf, while Misty moved to watch the fight just besides the field.

"Alright we'll do this slowly. You focus on attacking and Pikachu will focus on dodging. Pikachu, you're ready?" Red said, and then asked the electric mouse, which simply got a nod from the rodent. In all honestly Pikachu still didn't feel quite comfortable following orders from a human, but there was no harm in trying, right?

 **RGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGB**

 _A few hours later_

Even after everything he had seen Red was still amazed at how similar yet different this world was to his. A good example was the place he currently was, Viridian City. Back in his world it was more of a town than a real city, the place not being that big anyway.

But here? He had already got lost twice just today while walking! The city was so big he didn't recognize it at all!

Maybe he should have followed Misty and Leaf, at least that way he wouldn't be so lost while walking through the city. There were a lot of people walking on the streets, and seeing some of them with their Pokemon wasn't weird either.

The reason for him not being with the two girls was simple. Their little training session had ended rather quickly. It had started rather slow, with Bulbasaur attacking from distance and Pikachu dodging every move, although it had been obvious that the electric mouse was not used to following orders.

The session had ended when Pikachu had gotten too close to Bulbasaur, who had in panic throw a much powder from her seed as she could. That had made Pikachu fall asleep as soon as it hit him, stopping the training session with him releasing an awkward chuckle while Leaf just cheered.

Misty had offered to help the girl with her Bulbasaur, and after a little talking both decided to go to a small river just outside of Viridian, Misty saying it would be a better place for training. They had wanted Red to join them but the former champion had declined, saying that he had some stuff to check first.

He wasn't lying. He _did_ have a few things to check, something that he told himself he would do as soon as he got here. He would have done it sooner but he underestimated how big the city was.

At least he was close to the place he wanted to check, if the map he got was telling the truth of course. Red wasn't alone though, since certain yellow mouse was sleeping on his backpack, his head sticking out.

Red had thought of waking up the electric mouse, but considering how tired he obviously was he had decided to just let the electric type sleep while he did his stuff.

The young trainer took a turn to the right in a corner of the busy street, his eyes landing on a familiar building that brought both good and bad memories to his head, his eyes narrowing at it.

It was an impressive building, the trainer thought, his eyes focused in it while his body moved to the front. There weren't many people here to the point it was almost desert. Once Red stood just in front of the building his eyes went between the two statues in front it to the massive doors of the building

This was the Viridian City Gym, the same Gym he had once tried to become leader off, the same Gym that Blue had become leader off, and finally the same Gym in which he had, for the first time, faced the leader of Team Rocket: Giovanni.

His hands tightened into fist, a glare directed at the building as soon as he remembered the man that used to control it, his first battle with the man still fresh on his mind. He had been pushed over the limit during that battle, while almost dying through it, after all Giovanni was someone that didn't mind killing.

His reason for coming here been simple, he wanted to get more information about this world, or to be more precise, about certain organization.

Team Rocket.

He had asked Nurse Joy about it, but the woman said that she had never heard of them. Did that meant that there was no Team Rocket in this world? Or were they just really good at hiding? According to her the Gym was empty too, its leader disappearing many years ago.

That had motivated Red to check it even more, and with one resolute breath the young man moved towards the doors, his right hand slightly pushing it as soon as he got within reach. The massive door opened slowly but surely, making a sound that proved it hadn't been opened in a while.

He slowly entered the building, the whole place being darkened by shadows, the only source of light being the sun rays entering from the entrance.

The black-haired teen looked around but wasn't able to really see anything with how dark it was. With narrowed eyes he ventured further in, his whole body ready to spring into action. He really doubted he would just find Giovanni sitting at the middle of the gym or something like that, but he couldn't help to be worried a little bit.

Then suddenly a massive light shined on the trainer, forcing him to close his eyes and to shield them with his arms, a grunt escaping his lips. When he was finally able to open his eyes he was able to get a good look at the gym, although his eyes were scanning everywhere, trying to see who had turned the lights on.

The place looked fairly simple, with him now standing just in the middle of what he guessed was the battlefield. There were statues of different Pokemon in each corner of the field, but it became obvious to Red how no one had entered here in a while.

The building just looked worn out. The statues had cracks on them, the field looked really worse to wear and even the seats that some people would use to watch the battles looked really old.

The place simply looked abandoned.

"Ash? What are you doing here?" a familiar voice spoke from behind the teen, making him to quickly turn around with a yelp, not expecting anyone else to enter the gym.

Said voice belonged to Misty, who was looking at the former champion with a confused frown. She had seen the boy walking towards the gym and decided to follow him out of pure curiosity.

"I was…" Red started, and for Misty it was easy to read the young trainer. She wasn't an expert on people but even she could easily see the turmoil of feelings on the trainer's eyes.

"I just wanted to explore for a bit" Red continued with sheepish smile, one that didn't fool Misty at all, which just made her narrow her eyes at the younger trainer.

"Where's Leaf anyway? I thought she was with you" he tried to change the subject, and while Misty was still curious she wasn't going to force the boy to tell her if he didn't feel like it, so she simply released a sigh before talking.

"I had to check a few things with Nurse Joy so I left Leaf with one of my Pokemon, just in case she fished something that wasn't a Magikarp" she answered with a chuckle, remembering how frustrated the younger girl had been when they were both fishing and the only Pokemon she managed to caught were Magikarps.

Considering how much work it took to raise them it was probably better for Leaf to find something else, at least in Misty's opinion. That was why she left one of her own Pokemon with her, just in case her Bulbasaur wasn't able to fight because of her fears.

Red didn't answer back though, as his attention was back to the inside of the gym, while Misty had finally joined beside shim, her eyes more focused on the boy besides her though. She honestly was very curious in the young trainer.

Maybe asking one more question would be ok? She practically saved his life after all, so it wasn't like he couldn't answer some of her questions.

Right?

"Hey!" the orange-haired girl said while waiving her hand in front of the younger teen, earning his attention almost immediately "Why don't you tell me more about that friend of yours? You know, the one that apparently looks and has the same name as me?"

As soon as she asked that question Misty regretted it, as even a blind person would have noticed the pain that quickly flashed in Red's eyes before he turned around, avoiding eye contact with her.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…"

"No, it's just…" Red said, a gloved hand coming to his head, rubbing his hat "I haven't seen her in a while now" he continued with a shrug, putting on a smile that, in Misty's opinion, couldn't be more fake "I guess I just miss her"

Misty frowned at this, wondering what Ash Ketchum's story was. Leaf had said that the boy didn't have that many friends in their town besides her and another boy called Gary, but whoever Ash was talking about it was obviously important to him.

"Why don't you tell me more about her?" she knew she was pushing it here, and that was none of her business, but Misty was a believed that you shouldn't keep stuff bottled up so much.

Red just looked at the older girl, his eyes meeting hers as her question resounded on his mind. Telling her about Misty? He was sure there was a joke there somewhere, but his troubled thoughts couldn't think of one right now.

He opened his mouth slightly, honestly considering her question. Maybe telling her a little bit wouldn't hurt? He would definitely love to get some stuff out of his chest, as long as he kept the whole 'guy from another world' thing hidden.

He almost snorted at that thought. God did he got spoiled by Yellow. That girl always seemed to know whenever something was bothering him, and was more than willing to listen to him about it. Not that she was the only one of course, Green had definitely done that during the whole Deoxys fiasco, and of course there was also Misty…

That last thought had him clamping his mouth shut in an instant while slightly shaking his head. What was he trying to do? He had to remind himself every time he saw them, even if this people looked like his friends, they weren't them. Even if this Misty even acted like the one he knew, he had to remind himself, this wasn't _his_ Misty.

This wasn't his world, and playing friends with everyone wasn't going to help him get back. Hell, how could he even be friends with _anyone_ when this wasn't even his own body?!

The smile that plastered itself on Red's face was so fake that Misty actually felt a little bit insulted if he really thought that was going to fool her.

"It was no one, really!" the younger-looking trainer said while walking towards the exit of the building, feeling the accusing stare of the girl aimed at the back of his head and hoping she would just drop off the subject "Now that I look closer you two don't even resemble that much anyway, sorry for the mixing"

A frown made itself present on Misty's face, the girl wondering just what was wrong with the boy. Had she touched a nerve with her question? She honestly couldn't tell, but if he really thought he was fooling her with this then maybe he needed more time at the Pokemon Center.

"C'mon, we should go and find Leaf, with her track record so far she's probably being bullied by a group of Psyduck or something" well at least he wasn't ignoring her, so with a sigh she simply moved to walk alongside him. There would be more time to wonder about it anyway, so she might as well give him today to rest.

That didn't mean she didn't notice the last look he gave to the building before leaving.

How could someone give such an intense look to a building they had apparently never seen before, she would never know.

 **RGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGB**

 _Next Day_

"I don't remember agreeing with this…" Red said under his breath, his eyes narrowed at the two girls in front of him, both looking more than ready to finally continue their journey.

Together.

With _him_.

"You know, you should be graceful that two cute girls want to travel with you instead of complaining about it!" It was Misty the one that spoke, a smirk on her face, getting nothing but an eye-roll from Red, a frustrated sigh escaping his lips while his Pikachu looked at him with a frown, the yellow rodent resting on his shoulder.

Apparently whatever animosity Pikachu still had towards him couldn't beat not having to walk everywhere by himself, not that Red would complain.

"Yeah!" Leaf was quick to follow up to Misty, her hands on her hips as she glared as her childhood friend "Besides I bet that if I left you alone you would just get lost somewhere!"

Red had to really bite his tong to not make any comments on that. Sure, none of them had any more business on Viridian, but that didn't mean they should just go and travel together.

Well, they could if they wanted to, but they didn't need to drag him on with them!

If circumstances were different he might not have a problem about it, but right he would really rather to just go alone. He would faster that way, and he could let Charizard stretch his wings from time to time, while also not having to act as if he was a complete rookie.

That and he just wasn't used to travel with someone. Sure, back on his early adventures Misty had followed for a while, but that bad been pretty much it. Besides that he mostly traveled alone, with the occasional encounter with Blue or Green.

But these two weren't taking a no for an answer it seems.

"Fine" and with another sigh he gave one last look to the Pokemon Center before moving to the front, not even having to look at the girls to know they had victory smiles on their faces. He simply scratched behind Pikachu's ear, earning a content cry from the Electric type.

Besides, Misty would probably stay at Cerulean City once they got there, which he would honestly prefer. At least Leaf acted different enough from Green, but seeing this Misty just made him miss his Misty even more.

No time to brood around though, his, or rather, _their_ next stop was Viridian Forest, and step closer to Pewter City and his first badge.

Baby steps yes, but he was going to find a way to get back no matter how long it took.

He already became Champion once.

And no one will stop him from doing it again.

 **RGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGB**

 **Bet you thought this story was dead… and you would be right, it pretty much was, but then I remembered this chapter was almost done so I finally moved my lazy bump to work on it. Slow chapter, but next one (yes there will be a next one) will have more action.**

 **Also I decided to just remove the move limits. Just like with my other fic I'll use the quantity and quality of the moves a Pokemon use as a way to gauge their strength, so you can expect strong Pokemon to have more moves than others.**

 **And about Team Rocket. Now while I don't mind Jessie and James' antics, they just wouldn't fit into this story. Not to say they won't appear, but they won't go around chasing a kid just for a Pikachu, even if it** _ **is**_ **funny sometimes, especially since I'll try a more serious route with Team Rocket.**

 **Thank you all for your patience, and I will try to get the next chapter a lot faster.**

 **Next Chapter: We Bare Bears.**


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